SCS News & Press Releases

PITTSBURGH—A Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist has demonstrated that you don't necessarily need to know much about poker to create a computer program that can play a winning hand of Texas Hold'Em. A knowledge of game theory, not the specialized expertise of a human poker player, is at the heart of the poker robot called GS1 developed by Tuomas Sandholm, director of Carnegie Mellon's Agent-Mediated Electronic Marketplaces Lab, and graduate student Andrew Gilpin.

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University Computer Science Professor Peter Lee has been named the university's new vice provost for research. Lee succeeds Duane Adams, who retired this past January after holding the post since 1996. Lee is internationally recognized as a leading figure in computer science research, particularly in areas related to the use of advanced language technology in the design, implementation and analysis of operating systems and networks. He is best known for co-developing the patented "proof-carrying code," a technology for ensuring the safety of mobile code.

PITTSBURGH—Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute are creating the new Center for Innovative Robotics, a resource that will help make robotics accessible to a broader range of individuals and businesses. "One of the goals of the center will be to promote interoperability between many types of robots and a variety of software, including use of the Internet for controlling robots," said Illah Nourbakhsh, associate professor of robotics and director of the new center. "Innovation in robotics is difficult today because the software development costs a

PITTSBURGH—A small, wheeled robot designed and built at Carnegie Mellon University powered the school's robot soccer team, CMDragons'06, to victory Sunday in the small robot league at the RoboCup 2006 World Championship in Bremen, Germany. The team's five robots, cube-shaped machines with 7-inch sides, outscored opponents by a combined 53-3 margin in the six games played at the international competition.

PITTSBURGH—A robotic pet, an industrial robot and three robot stars of classic movies will be inducted into Carnegie Mellon University's Robot Hall of Fame® in a June 21 ceremony at the Sheraton Station Square in Pittsburgh. Actor Anthony Daniels, who played the robot C-3PO in all six "Star Wars" films, returns as master of ceremonies and Daniel H.

PITTSBURGH— Gazing at a snapshot from a family picnic, you recognize instantly that the tuft of leaves hanging over Uncle John is not part of a tree growing out the top of his head. Any fool can see he is standing in front of the tree. Perceiving a three-dimensional world in a two-dimensional image is something humans take for granted, but it's something that has long flummoxed computer vision systems.

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University is sending two small bipedal robots to the RoboCup 2006 World Championship June 14-18 in Bremen, Germany, to provide color commentary for robot soccer matches — a first for humanoid robots. The walking robots are perfectly capable of kicking a ball, but in this new application they will instead be moving their heads and bodies to track the soccer ball with their electronic eyes. During the championships, they will provide commentary for matches between teams of four-legged robots that were developed by Sony Corporation.

PITTSBURGH—Raj Reddy, Carnegie Mellon University's Mozah Bint Nasser University Professor of Computer Science and Robotics in the School of Computer Science, will receive the 2006 Vannevar Bush Award, an honor presented by the National Science Board in recognition of his contributions to science and his statesmanship on behalf of science and the nation. The board cited Reddy for his pioneering research in robotics and intelligent systems, and his significant contributions in the formulation of national information and telecommunications policy. Reddy and Charles Townes, a Nobel

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University Computer Science Professor Manuela Veloso hasbeen named the Herbert A. Simon Professor of Computer Science.The chaired professorship is named after the late Herbert A. Simon, university professor andNobel Laureate who helped to found the field of artificial intelligence and establish Carnegie Mellon as oneof the foremost computer science institutions in the world.

Two Carnegie Mellon RoboCup teams brought home four trophies from last weekend's RoboCup U.S. Open, hosted by Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.In the league for four-legged AIBO robots, CMDash '06 was the best of the U.S. teams and was second overall, losing in the final to Dortmund, Germany. Eight AIBO teams competed. The University of Pennsylvania was third overall, followed by the University of Texas-Austin.Manuela Veloso, professor of computer science, noted this is the first time that the AIBO team is composed mainly of undergraduates.